NEW YORK: ExxonMobil earnings fell sharply in the first quarter as the big drop in oil prices crimped the petroleum giant’s exploration and production results, the company said.
Earnings fell 45.7 percent to $4.9 billion. Revenues dropped 36.4 percent to $67.62 billion.
The drop reflected the effects of a big retreat in oil prices since June 2014, which has led to a difficult year-on-year comparison for energy companies.
Exxon’s upstream division, which drills and produces petroleum prospects, saw profits sink 63.3 percent to $2.9 billion.
The hit from lower commodity prices more than offset the benefit from slightly higher output due to new developments in Papua New Guinea, Angola and other countries.
On the positive side, earnings from Exxon’s refining segment more than doubled to $1.7 billion thanks to cheaper costs for crude oil.
“ExxonMobil’s balanced portfolio delivered solid financial results in the quarter,” said CEO Rex Tillerson.
“Regardless of current market conditions, we remain focused on business fundamentals and competitive advantages that create longterm shareholder value.”
On Wednesday, the oil giant announced it was raising its dividend by four cents to 73 cents per share. Exxon previously announced it would trim capital spending over the next few years due to low oil prices.
The earnings translated into $1.17 per share, well above the 83 cents projected by analysts.
Exxon shares rose 1.3 percent in pre-market trade to $89.05.
ExxonMobil earnings fall on low crude prices
ExxonMobil earnings fall on low crude prices
Omani banks’ credit metrics remain stable amid robust economic growth: Fitch
RIYADH: Business conditions for Omani banks are expected to remain stable in 2025, supported by sustained high oil prices and robust economic growth, a new report revealed.
Data released by Fitch Ratings indicates that the country’s growing economic diversification has strengthened its financial outlook and created new growth opportunities for banks.
Real gross domestic product is expected to accelerate, driven by expansion in both the hydrocarbon and non-oil sectors.
The report from the US credit rating agency comes after it revised Oman’s long-term foreign currency issuer default ratings to positive from stable in December, and affirmed the IDR at BB+, driven by the availability of fiscal tools to combat future shocks.
It also aligns with the positive outlooks for all Omani banks, which reflects the upgrade in the sovereign rating and expectations that better operating conditions may strengthen the fundamental profiles of some banks.
The latest Fitch analysis said: “We expect asset quality to gradually recover further in 2025, helped by write-offs and the favorable economic conditions. This should support sector capitalization. Stage 2 loans should continue to reduce, and we do not expect any material migration to Stage 3, despite the remaining pressures in the real estate, construction and hospitality sectors.”
It added: “We expect lower interest rates will have a limited impact on banks’ net interest margins and that loan impairment charges will remain moderate, along with reasonable cost discipline.”
The report also highlighted that most banks maintain solid capital reserves, primarily strengthened by healthy internal capital generation, while funding and liquidity environments remain steady.
“We expect oil prices to continue to support growth in customer deposits, which accounted for 90 percent of total sector non-equity funding,” it said.
Earlier in April, Fitch Ratings shed light on how strong economic growth and relatively high oil prices, despite a recent minor decline, are expected to sustain favorable business conditions for Omani banks in 2025.
At the time, the credit rating agency said that Oman’s dedication to economic diversification has enhanced its growth outlook and opened up new opportunities for the banking sector.
Oman achieved a 6.2 percent budget surplus and a 2.4 percent current account gain in 2024, driven by prudent fiscal policies, high oil prices, and nonhydrocarbon export growth.
In its January 2024 Article IV consultation, the International Monetary Fund credited these figures to effective economic management.
At the time, the IMF noted that despite higher social spending under a new protection law, the nonhydrocarbon primary deficit as a share of nonhydrocarbon gross domestic product remained stable, highlighting the government’s commitment to financial discipline.
Government debt as a percentage of GDP also declined further, reaching 35 percent in 2024, marking continued improvement in Oman’s economic fundamentals, the IMF added at the time.
Saudi Arabia opens charter airline license bidding to expand aviation sector
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has launched a public tender for a national charter air carrier license, inviting private operators to offer non-scheduled services as part of its push to expand the aviation sector.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation said interested investors must request the tender documents via email. The bidding window opened April 13 and runs through May 21, with offers to be submitted both physically in sealed envelopes and electronically in encrypted form. Bids will be opened on May 22 in Riyadh.
The move supports the Kingdom’s National Aviation Strategy, which targets facilitating 330 million passengers annually and connecting to over 250 international destinations by 2030.
In an official release, GACA said that the initiative is designed “to enhance the quality of services provided to travelers, raise the level of competitiveness.”
The development follows a February policy shift that lifted cabotage restrictions, allowing foreign charter operators to apply for domestic routes under Saudi regulations beginning May 1.
Cabotage restrictions are regulations that prohibit foreign-flagged ships or airlines from transporting goods or passengers within a country’s borders, typically allowing only domestic carriers to operate such routes to protect national industries.
The reform is expected to stimulate competition and attract foreign investment in general aviation.
The development marks a key milestone in Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to diversify its aviation sector and enhance private sector participation in the growing charter services market.
According to official data, the Kingdom’s business jet sector recorded a 24 percent increase in flight volumes in 2024, with domestic flights rising 26 percent to 9,206 and international flights up 15 percent to 14,406 — reflecting the sector’s expanding contribution to the national economy.
Announcing the policy changes in February, Imtiyaz Manzary, general manager for general aviation at GACA, highlighted the significance of the move, noting that the authority is opening new opportunities for the global aviation industry by lifting restrictions on domestic charter flight operations in the Kingdom.
“This regulatory decision supports GACA’s roadmap to establish Saudi Arabia as a general aviation hub, alongside an unprecedented infrastructure program to develop new private airports and terminals across the Kingdom,” he said, as reported at the time by the Saudi Press Agency.
The removal of these restrictions forms a key part of the authority’s strategy to boost competition, attract foreign investment, and offer greater operational flexibility within the general aviation sector.
As part of its broader General Aviation Roadmap — unveiled at the Future Aviation Forum in May — GACA aims to transform the sector into a $2 billion industry by 2030, generating 35,000 jobs. The plan includes the development of six dedicated business aviation airports, nine specialized terminals, and expanded maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities for business jets.
GACA said inquiries on the license tender will be accepted via email until May 8. It also warned that discrepancies between hard and electronic copies will result in disqualification and that late submissions will not be accepted.
Saudi Venture Capital CEO highlights Kingdom’s investments to boost innovation
RIYADH: A Saudi government backed venture capital firm has invested in over 50 funds in various sectors and stages, according to its CEO, underscoring the Kingdom’s strong commitment to fostering innovation.
On the second day of the Human Capabilities Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Venture Capital’s Nabeel Koshak emphasized the growing prominence of national startups.
During a panel discussion titled “Powering Venture Capital Investments to Turbo Boost Innovation in HCD,” Koshhak, said: “Since inception, we invested in more than 56 funds, we are across multiple sectors, multiple stages.”
He added: “It’s good to shed the light on the amazing entrepreneurs and startups being launched here in Saudi Arabia and now going global. And also the companies that are starting globally, originally, and also expanding in Saudi Arabia.”
The CEO specifically commended Classera, a Saudi-born education tech company now operating in over 40 countries, calling it a “learning super-platform” with 50 million global users.
Also appearing on the panel, Dong-Su Kim, CEO of LG Technology Ventures in the US, shared insights into corporate venture strategies, saying: “We invest in promising startups and then we help them get connected with the right people. In many cases, we advise our portfolio companies on how to work with a big company.”
Kim also highlighted entrepreneurship as a critical tool for personal growth, adding: “I think, for a young person to increase your capability, there’s no better tool than starting your own companies.”
Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, pointed to the evolving mindset of young entrepreneurs. “What we’re seeing now is startups coming from a younger generation who care about more than the return on investment,” he said.
Ortmans also noted the massive reach of entrepreneurial initiatives, mentioning that his organization’s Entrepreneurship World Cup attracted over 100,000 startups globally.
Discussing the impact of artificial intelligence, Ortmans cautioned that while generative AI relies on past data, entrepreneurship thrives in uncertainty. “One of the things I’m learning is that, clearly, there are some areas where AI will not be useful in the immediate future. One of those is in terms of entrepreneurs— they’ll have to learn to operate in unpredictable, uncertain environments,” he said.
He expressed optimism about the future of venture capital, stating: “I think the venture community should be extremely excited because you’re going to see some super innovative new ideas coming from a new generation of thinkers.”
Ortmans also underscored the vital role of entrepreneurs in job creation, declaring: “Entrepreneurs create almost all the net new jobs around the world.”
The panel highlighted the dynamic interplay between venture capital, innovation, and human capability development, with the Kingdom emerging as a key player in the global startup ecosystem.
Uzbekistan’s $220m education project signals shift toward skills-driven systems: GPE CEO
RIYADH: Uzbekistan’s $220 million education reform deal reflects a growing global shift to align schooling systems with economic transformation, according to Global Partnership for Education CEO Laura Frigenti.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Human Capability Initiative 2025 in Riyadh, Frigenti said the agreement, signed with the Islamic Development Bank and the Uzbek government, aims to help the country “accelerate that process of transformation.”
Fully aligned with Uzbekistan’s national education strategies, this project aims to enhance the quality and efficiency of the education system while supporting the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4.
“Uzbekistan is a country that has a very well-functioning, in a way, education system because under the Soviet Union, education was a big priority,” she said.
“At the same time, [it] was a system that was designed thinking about a world that doesn’t exist anymore. And so, because they are moving very quickly at transforming their own education, they do want to have resources to accelerate that process of transformation and that is the sense of, you know, of the project that we signed today,” Frigenti told Arab News.
The $220.25 million “Smart Education” program includes $160.25 million from IsDB, a $40 million grant from GPE, and a $20 million contribution from the Government of Uzbekistan. The project is already under implementation, with early work focused on school construction and partnerships with UNICEF and UNESCO.
“It’s also a project that is part of the process of finding innovative instruments to finance education,” Frigenti said. “Education, as I’m sure you know, is a very expensive type of sector that, until now has been basically mainly funded either through domestic financing or with the development assistance resources.”
Education for growth
Frigenti emphasized that education systems must shift to meet the needs of evolving economies, and focus on producing skills that are needed to make society progress and facilitate process of growth and so on.
Saudi Arabia, she noted, has made significant headway in this area.
“Saudi Arabia has been understanding this connection between skills and economic growth very well and they have invested in this over the past couple of decades significantly,” Frigenti said.
“Other countries need to get to that and so the kind of things that we are trying to do is to see how can this re-alignment of education with the needs of the economy be translated for countries that do not have the same resource base of Saudi Arabia.”
She added: “And this is where we are working on issues related to financing of the sector, efficiency in the administration of the resources, etcetera.”
Women’s workforce gains
Frigenti also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s progress in gender inclusion.
“I think having a very clear political vision that sets a specific target, like 50 percent of the labor force needs to be female, as in the Vision 2030, and then having the ability of designing a set of policies and programs that leads to that results in record time — that is quite an extraordinary result,” she said.
Zooming out, she described the Kingdom’s broader economic transition as strategic and well-resourced.
“Saudi Arabia is a country that has several strong things going for it. First one, there is a clear vision of where the country, you know, needs to go — and the country needs to go toward an economy that is more diversified, that is not depending on fossil fuels and where you know that there is a whole range of new activities that needs to be started and stimulated.”
She added: “The second part is that to be able to get to that different type of economy, you need a different type of skills. You need people that can do different things, people that can work in services, for example, people that can work in manufacturing and so on and so forth.”
The CEO went on to say: “And then you need to have the resources that on one hand create this skill mix and on the other hand, put in place the infrastructures that allow this to happen. That is rather unique.”
Young population
Frigenti sees Saudi Arabia’s youth bulge as a pivotal advantage. “The very young workforce is accessing the labor market and is going through the education system at this time. So all this has been an exceptionally fertile ground for transforming the education system on one side, but the economy on the other in a very quick time.”
She said they had created “a working group, a forum” that brings together ministers of education, heads of major technology companies, and key government players — with Saudi Arabia playing a particularly strong role.
According to her, the Kingdom wanted not only to contribute its experiences but also to learn from others. “Attention to technology and the role it can play in education is something that I feel is going to be very much at the center of the education portion of the Vision 2050,” she said, adding that this would be highly relevant going forward.
She concluded by saying that Saudi Arabia is actively looking to share and absorb best practices globally.
Frigenti also emphasized that Saudi Arabia is eager to engage in a global exchange of best practices — sharing what has worked for them while also learning from successful experiences elsewhere. “They are very keen on having a kind of exchange with the rest of the world around good practice, what works and what doesn’t work,” she said.
“Events like HCI 2025 are just an example,” the CEO concluded.
Oil Updates — crude extends decline as US-China trade war weighs on global growth outlook
TOKYO/SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell on Monday on concerns the escalating trade war between the US and China would weaken global economic growth and dent fuel demand.
Brent crude futures were down 22 cents, or 0.34 percent, at $64.54 a barrel at 10:22 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at $61.28 a barrel, down 22 cents, or 0.36 percent.
Both contracts have lost about $10 a barrel since the start of the month as a trade war between the world’s two largest economies has intensified.
Goldman Sachs expects Brent to average $63 and WTI to average $59 for the remainder of 2025 and sees Brent averaging $58 and WTI $55 in 2026.
It sees global oil demand in the fourth quarter of 2025 rising by just 300,000 barrels per day year-on-year, “given the weak growth outlook,” analysts led by Daan Struyven said in a note, adding that the demand slowdown is expected to be the sharpest for petrochemical feedstocks.
Beijing increased its tariffs on US imports to 125 percent on Friday, hitting back against President Donald Trump’s decision to raise duties on Chinese goods and raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to upend global supply chains.
Trump on Saturday granted exclusions from steep tariffs on smartphones, computers and some other electronics largely imported from China, but US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.
The trade war has heightened worries that unsold exports could continue driving domestic Chinese prices down.
“Inflation data from China were a window into an economy that is not in shape for a trade fight. Consumer prices fell for a second month in a row in year-on-year terms, while producer prices chalked up their 30 percent straight fall,” Moody’s Analytics said in a weekly note, referring to data released on April 10.
As companies prepare for a possible decline in demand, US energy firms last week cut oil rigs by the most in a week since June 2023, lowering the total oil and natural gas rig count for a third consecutive week, according to Baker Hughes.
Potentially supporting oil prices, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday that the US could stop Iran’s oil exports as part of Trump’s plan to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program.
Both countries held “positive” and “constructive” talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week in a dialogue meant to address Tehran’s escalating nuclear program, officials said over the weekend.
